Sharp left in the first period after suffering an upper-body injury. Prior to getting hurt, he’d scored the Hawks’ second goal of the game, his 20th of the season, at 4:19 of the first period and played a total of eight shifts — but didn’t return for a ninth. The club announced he was done for the night prior to the third period but didn’t say when or how the injury occurred.

“He’s got an upper-body (injury),” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “We’re going to do some tests. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

The Sharp injury is the latest in Chicago’s recent string of frustrations. The ‘Hawks are now winless in 2012 and have lost five of six, which has allowed Detroit to leapfrog them in the standings. Losing Sharp would be a major blow — he leads the team in game-winning goals, with five.

Can’t we all just agree that Pavel Datsyuk is the best player in the NHL, period! I’ve never seen anyone more elusive, he’s right up there with Gretzky. He can make plays, check, he can stickhandle better than anyone, he can score, heck he can even fight. The only comparable player is Peter Forsberg and I think Pavel is better because of his take away ability.